I feel there's a big sign on blogger.com that says "Welcome to the Future."
Here we are - in the van - and while it is early (I expect zero sympathy from those of you with real jobs) there is nothing but good zibes here as we leave the city.
There are two of you who might have read my Mitt Romney post last night before I pulled it. It very well may be coming back! But I did have second thoughts about late night first ever politics posting... something probably to be tackled with a clearer head.
Also: Drew Carey finally started hosting The Price is Right? Has anybody watched yet? Is he absolutely wonderful?
At the very least, he serves as a serviceable transition to "Cleveland, here we come!"
I think that's about it.
More to follow. If this actually worked.
-----edit: So it hasn't worked yet. But I just watched the movie Deja Vu (starring Denzel Washington!) over the weekend and he held onto the hope that he could change the future. If you're reading this, then I've done the same.
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Me: "Show me something funny." Studio Intern Dane: "Type in 'Mr. T' and 'treat your mother right' - you'll laugh." Me: "Okay."
And I did. As always, sharing is caring.
More sharing:
We have a new friend from across the sea - Kevin - and he runs both the Big Scary Monsters Recording Company and the appropriately titled Blog Scary Monsters. Ha! Apparently, he also cares and shares and wouldn't mind us passing along that a free download (FREE) of the band "House of Brothers" can be had by clicking here. It could very well be your cup of tea.
And if you'd like more tea, but of a different variety!... I was thinking about Colour Revolt tonight. They're recording right now, too, and the following is going to be a shameless youtube dump. You know, you just miss your friends sometimes. So you click on their facebook pictures. Maybe you scroll through their walls. Even think about sending ill-conceived pokes at late hours of the night. Who can say? But instead... you settle for typing their name into the internet and seeing what's out there. The first three - each are under a minute - so click away if you were worried about the following being a half hour blog commitment. And the last... well, it was a hard one to leave it out. Enjoy enjoy:
(and by "enjoy enjoy," I mean, "colour revolt" seems to inspire the bizarre and violent)
Well, look at what my Mom found! The Vicks commercial. An e-kudo or two to Miss Brownsword for the catch in the comments as well.
I also hear that the clip will be running tonight during The Ghost Whisperer. In hi-def, no less!
Oh my.
Moving on!! In the spirit of the videos unearthed here this past week, I humbly present a couple minutes of Halloween inspiration.
Finally, Mr. Disposition is up to it again... he found a website that allows you to "upload an image, print the resulting multi-page pdf file and assemble the pages into extremely cool looking poster up to 20 meters in size." Apparently, this is called The Rasterbator (no, I'm not kidding) and it allows you to "rasterbate" your images into posters like this:
(the room of disposition, I believe)
Anyways, besides it's unfortunate name, the program seems pretty sweet. And free. A good combination.
If you live in the northeast, we are coming to visit next week! See you soon.
What? Yes, a new song from the creator of my favorite recording made in our lifetime (yes, I just made that claim, and I'm talking about last year's Ys). This time around sista brings soul and a sense of american pop heritage to Brazil.
Aw man... WE were planning on debuting our new songs during an upcoming South American tour... (sigh) there's always next time.
Hello. I just wanted to show everyone a little something I knitted in the van. It was a footie gone terribly wrong (or right if your name is Denison) Email Erica at grandmafromanscrazyknittingfrenzy@gmail.com (thats not real).
My friends. One hundred apologies for the lack of posts this past week. I have, for lack of a better phrase, been going through a case of "blogger's block." And maybe also a case of not having been around my computer so much. Perhaps that's a good thing? Maybe in some ways.
I do like writing, though, and it's important to do what you like. I'll be back soon (along with whoever else catches a posting whim).
Without being entirely too sentimental, it sounds nice to me - with no pressure at all - but if you're reading this, tomorrow is Sunday. It'd be pretty great if you called your parents. Or if you have a friend that you haven't caught up with in a while. It's important to do what you like, yes, and it's important to let the people you care about know how you feel.
Ramblings of a boy who forgot to have dinner, walked through Wrigleyville tonight to see what a home playoff game would feel like, and ended up with too many free energy drinks from the free energy drink guy in his "Monster Energy" truck. For real. I was shaking for a few hours (in a funny way, not a serious way). It's kept me up, though, and left me with sentimental thoughts like the one above.
To all potential houserobbers, there are four apartments in the greater Chicago area that now hold within their confines the first two tracks (entirely mixed!) of the new (as of yet unnamed) Anathallo record. Cool, right? Eight more to go, a week with The New Amsterdams, a visit to the wonderful world of CMJ, and then back home (with a sporadic Michigan show or two in the future). And that's just the rest of the month!. We officially have our mastering date - December 7th - and then the whole thing will be done. Finally, finally, finally. That's the news, my you-me-go friends.
Whew.
There's a question waiting for us, though (and one we can finally answer):
"HOW IN THE WORLD DID YOU GUYS PAY TO RECORD YOUR ALBUM AT ENGINE STUDIOS?"
Hmmm... well, Floating World was recorded (mainly) in Danny's basement. Hymns was recorded in a Lansing, Michigan apartment. Luminous, Sparrows, and Holiday at the Sea were all put together in a trailer in the middle-of-nowhere Indiana. This was a pretty different experience, huh?
We don't have a label. Tour proceeds turn into rent checks We didn't necessarily want to go to a bank and enter into five figure debt. How DID this happen?
The answer:
I haven't seen the finished commercial yet! But I hear it's running now which means I can tell you about it. We received a phone call in late July with an offer from Vicks. I'm not even sure if the advertisement is for Vaporub or NyQuil... but one of those!... and they asked if we would be willing to let them use 30 seconds from "Yuki, Yuki, Yuki."
I just posted this over at the myspace (it's this new website - have you heard?) but I thought it fit over here, too:
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"There's not too much to say except 'how wonderful,' 'how bizarre,' 'think of Vicks during the upcoming flu season,' and 'in our label-less universe, this one commercial paid for our entire recording.' For real.
No bank loans, no going into debt, no signing with a label we didn't believe in. Instead, cough medicine. The world is full of surprises."
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I really think that's it... I'm still a little burnt out from talking money (anonymous adsense advice will do that) but this is a great thing. A really great thing. We were able to make the record we've always wanted to. There's no pressure that these songs have to sell at all. We could make exactly what we wanted. Again... cough medicine. Who would've thought?
Also: if anyone can somehow capture the commercial to their computer, I know the seven of us would all love to see it. We have the stripped down video but without any music added to it. And if we get a copy, we'll be sure to share it with you.
OKAY! To end with:
WEIRD, WEIRD VIDEOS AND PICTURES. I HOPE THIS IS NOT THE EXPLOITATION OF CULTURES I DON'T UNDERSTAND! BUT HERE GOES.
(on par with the Phil Collins Cadbury Gorilla video, I feel)
(Seth sent this to me)
(thank you, ebay)
(no, really - I am an internet auction KING)
I think that's all! Thanks again for all your recommendations a week back... here is what's still on my list: Heroes Top Chef Finale Part 2 (when I can find it on replay SO DON'T RUIN IT FOR ME IN THE COMMENTS!) The Office Grey's Anatomy (it was strangely affecting... or I have a convincing lady friend) Private Practice (never again) Pushing Daisies (I'm going to watch it tonight!)
This will have to be real quick. Let's see if I can do finish the post in four sentences.
I thought this was even more weird than it's supposed to be. Maybe because it's easy to take Lost so seriously. But these people shouldn't be laughing! And they are!
And this is my fifth sentence - we had a mixing meltdown, it is fixed, day one begins in an hour.
